Peoria, Ill. – The Bradley Men's Basketball team (16-8, 9-4 MVC) earned a 72-65 victory over the Valparaiso Beacons. This is the Braves' 11th win in Carver Arena this season.
The Braves' offense struck quickly in the first half, as
Alex Huibregtse and
AJ Smith each drained a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions. The Braves then looked down low to score, nailing 14 points from the paint in the half, including a dunk from
Ahmet Jonovic. Along with the Jonovic dunk, the volume inside Carver Arena also skyrocketed when
Corey Thomas pulled up from beyond the arc and swished a three on the fastbreak. The Braves led going into halftime, 40-33.
Despite the 13 lead changes in the first half, Bradley never let Valparaiso overtake them in the final 20. The Braves started the second half of play with another three from Huibregtse, as the next 14 consecutive Bradley points (besides another fastbreak three from Thomas) all came from within the paint, the same number of points in the paint the team scored in the first half. The rest of the half consisted of a clutch three from
Montana Wheeler, free throws, including a 4-4 night from Jonovic and more physicality from all the Braves in the post. The Braves were able to hold on to snag the seven-point win.
The freshman Wheeler led the team with 18 points, adding to his spotlight showing with three assists. Jonovic scored a dozen with half a dozen rebounds and two steals, yet
Kai Yu led the Braves in the rebound column, snagging seven boards.
Jaquan Johnson scored eight points while dishing out three assists, collecting five rebounds of his own. Huibregtse drained three from beyond the arc, as the pair of threes from Thomas were the second most for Bradley.
The Braves will have a rematch against Valparaiso in 15 days, but first, Bradley travels to Northern Iowa this weekend to face the Panthers, with the game set for 7 p.m. CT in Cedar Falls, IA, this Friday, February 6th. The Braves earned a 75-69 victory over the Panthers at home earlier this season. The Braves will be back in Peoria on Monday, February 9th at 7 p.m. CT inside Carver Arena to host the Belmont Bruins.